


sweet dreams are made of this

by goodbye_yellowbrickroad



Series: the lowercase series a.k.a. my fics that were written while high [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Episode: s02e10 Sweet Dreams, First Kiss, I Was High When I Wrote This, M/M, intentional lower case, take that as you will
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:27:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23268463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodbye_yellowbrickroad/pseuds/goodbye_yellowbrickroad
Summary: The only way to save Arthur is with true love's kiss, so Merlin enlists the help of Gwen.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), past Gwen/Arthur Pendragon
Series: the lowercase series a.k.a. my fics that were written while high [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1695598
Comments: 4
Kudos: 290





	sweet dreams are made of this

**Author's Note:**

> I want to emphasize the fact that I wrote this after smoking a lot of marijuana. Take that as you will, and enjoy!

“no, merlin! no, no!” gwen shouted as she flew into morgana’s bedchamber. “you cannot ask me that of me!”  
  
merlin followed closely at her heels. “gwen, it’s the only way to save arthur,” he insisted.  
  
“you’re laughing at me!” gwen accused. “i can’t believe it! i’d expect behavior like this from some people, sure, but i thought you of all people would be better than that!”  
  
“i am not —“  
  
“yes —“  
  
“no, i am not laughing at you!”  
  
“yes you most certainly are!” gwen shrieked. “how dare you!”  
  
“gwen, please,” merlin said, taking her hand. “arthur loves you.”  
  
“no, merlin, arthur does not love me,” gwen said. “arthur has made it crystal clear that he is in love with lady vivienne.”  
  
merlin huffed. “i’ve already told you, he’s under a spell!”  
  
“what if you’re wrong and i make a fool of myself?” gwen said.  
  
“i am not wrong,” merlin said. “i swear to you on my life — on my mother’s life — that i am not wrong.”  
  
“all right, say i take you at your word,” gwen said. “say he is enchanted, and i go in there and i kiss him... and it doesn’t break the enchantment. what then, merlin? what am i supposed to do with that information? it’s too much for one person to know.”  
  
“you don’t see how he looks at you when you can’t see him, gwen,” merlin sighed. “but i do. and he is in love with you.”  
  
gwen shook her head, and squeezed her eyes shut.  
  
“you are his last chance,” merlin said. “the only way to break the enchantment is true love’s kiss.”  
  
“merlin, i cannot —“  
  
“i would not ask this of you were it not absolutely necessary,” merlin said. “just — please, gwen. please don’t let arthur die.”  
  
gwen turned away from him, and she sighed. “tell me what i need to do,” she said.  
  
***  
  
merlin was pacing back and forth outside arthur’s tent, chewing on his fingernails. this was so much worse than he had imagined it would be. now arthur was wounded and he still had to go out and face that man again.  
  
“it’s fine,” merlin told himself, trying hard to convince himself. “it’s fine, gwen is there now, and everything is fine. arthur  
will be fine, arthur will be fine, arthur will be —“  
  
the two flaps of burlap that served as the entrance and exit to the tent flew apart as gwen burst out of the tent, and ran straight into merlin.  
  
“gwen!” merlin cried. “did it work?” he said, and then the words died on his tongue as his gaze fell upon her swollen red eyes brimming with tears.  
  
“i warned you, merlin,” gwen said, voice hoarse from the effort not to cry. “i’ve done all that i can. enchantment or no, i am not the one he loves.” she nodded tersely, then set off, sniffling as she went.  
  
merlin wanted to yell. he whirled around and stormed into the tent. “okay, arthur, i know you’re in there somewhere,” he said, voice near to booming.  
  
“i am in here somewhere,” arthur said, nodding. “i am... right here.”  
  
“that’s not what i mean and you know it!” merlin shouted.  
  
arthur blinked. “what?”  
  
“i need you to dig down deep and tell me who you’re in love with,” merlin said. “i need you to do it right now — it is a matter of life and death — now, Arthur, tell me!”  
  
“i am in love with lady vivienne!” arthur shouted back at him.  
  
“can you help me save your life just this one time?” merlin groaned. “please?”  
  
“what are you on about, merlin?”  
  
“who is it?” merlin huffed. “who — are — you — in love with?”  
  
“i’ve told you already it’s lady vivienne!”  
  
“no,” merlin said, stamping toward him. his nose was inches from arthur’s. “it’s gwen.”  
  
“it’s not!”  
  
“who is it, then?”  
  
“do you need your ears checked? lady vivienne!”  
  
“is it morgana?”  
  
“dear god, no!”  
  
“tell me who it is.” merlin maintained the air of calm individual.  
  
“i already have!”  
  
“you haven’t, now tell me,” merlin said, calm as ever.  
  
“merlin, i’ll have you in the stocks for this, i swear —“  
  
“oh my god, i’m going to hit you,” merlin said, exhaling sharply like he was exasperated instead of absolutely furious.  
  
“what did you just say to me?” arthur bit out through gritted teeth.  
  
that was it. merlin wound up his arm and leaned into him to do it, to punch him. his fingers were so far ahead of his brain, though, and they acted of their own accord. they balled themselves up around Arthur’s tunic — a tunic that those same fingers had washed time and time again.  
  
arthur leaned back for but a moment when merlin’s mouth crashed into his. merlin started to pull back, too, shocked by his own actions, but before he could arthur an arm wrapped around his waist.  
  
“arthur,” merlin gasped into his mouth.  
  
arthur held merlin tighter, pressing him closer. merlin flattened his hands against arthur’s chest.  
  
i should stop, merlin thought to himself. instead, he slid his tongue against arthur’s and allowed himself be tipped back, allowed him to be held. he slid his hands up arthur’s chest and brought them to rest on arthur’s face, fingers tucked underneath arthur’s ears.  
  
“merlin,” arthur said, and he broke the kiss. he still held merlin wrapped tightly in his arms, tipped backward. “why — why now?”  
  
“hold that thought,” merlin said, and he kissed him again. “sorry, i had to do that one more time,” he explained, and he couldn’t suppress a gleeful laugh.  
  
arthur let merlin stand up straight, but he refused to let go of him. he wrapped his hands around merlin’s forearms, keeping him as near to him as he could. “what do you mean one last time?” he asked. “merlin, let us never stop doing this!” he exclaimed in earnest. he looked around the room, then. “wait, where am i?”  
  
“long story,” merlin said. “you were enchanted.”  
  
“i was what?” arthur balked at him.  
  
“a love enchantment.”  
  
“what?!”  
  
“and now you’re in a duel to win her hand marriage.”  
  
“oh.”  
  
“a battle to the death.”  
  
“oh, no.”  
  
“you’re losing, i’m afraid,” merlin said, placing his hands back on arthur’s face. “so go out there, and start winning.”  
  
“all right,” arthur said.  
  
“and then don’t marry her,” merlin said, smiling.  
  
“i won’t,” arthur said. “i’m going to kiss you some more.”  
  
“there cannot be anything between us,” merlin said, shaking his head quickly. “your father will never have it.” he ran a finger along arthur’s jaw, watching it travel across his skin. “but it was nice to get the chance to do this. at least once.”  
  
“damn what my father will and will not have,” arthur said. he leaned his forehead against merlin’s. “i’m only concerned with what i will have, and what you will have. what will you have, merlin?”  
  
“oh,” merlin said breathlessly. “oh, arthur, i will have you so long as you will have me.”  
  
arthur grinned. “merlin, why now? why, finally, now? after all this time?”  
  
merlin leaned away from him, head tilted, smirking. “why?” he asked. “have you been waiting a long time for me to do this?”  
  
“you’ve no idea,” arthur said, and kissed him again.  
  
“you’ve got a duel to win,” merlin said, sliding a thumb across arthur’s lips. he smiled fondly. “there’ll be time for this later.”


End file.
